


Super science June 2020: Hindsight

by Penstrokes



Series: Vi's Super Science June series [4]
Category: Super Science Friends (Cartoon)
Genre: 2099 compliant, Gen, Multi, Pre-Canon, Role Swap AU, Time runner compliant, fight fight fight, nothing too spoilery, post 2099, post emergent shadows, post episode 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24491356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penstrokes/pseuds/Penstrokes
Summary: The 2020 super Science June collection.Largely centered around the theme of ' the past' for the most part. Some of them don't match the theme.Updates will be slow due to stressChapter 9 is up
Series: Vi's Super Science June series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1399738
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Friendship: Yours Truly

Marie stands alone. Figuratively and literally. Pierre is gone and now she's single in both parenthood and science. 

She has no one to blame but herself. 

_She_ did this. 

_She_ killed Pierre and robbed their children of their _father_. 

It should have been her. 

She didn't want to die, especially not with her children so dependent on her. She never wanted Pierre to die for her, much less because of her. 

The memories were fresh and always would be. 

Days were more manageable to her, so busy with balancing two very different lives, so very much opposed in the public eye. There was no time to let her mind torment her. The subject of her work threatened her relentlessly, but she preserved. 

Failure was _not_ an option. 

It was the nights when everything was quiet that her mind threw her into her own personal hell. A non-stop reminder with little to no barriers. Survivor's guilt married to loneliness. 

It was in the midst of this mourning that _he_ came back to her. The man who had to make the decision that no man should make. 

Albert Einstein stood before her, sorrowful and bashful. 

" Hello, Marie. I know this isn't the best of times, but are you willing to talk?" He asked gently. 

Marie sat up, pushing the hair out of her eyes. 

" Einstein, what brings you here?" She pulled the covers a little more over herself. 

" I've come to see how you were doing. And..I've come to ask you something else." Einstein answered, looking slightly ashamed of himself. 

" I'm doing as best I can given the circumstances." There weren't many people she could be this open with. There wasn't anything worse that Einstein could see or hear of her that he hadn't before. 

" What did you come to ask?" She prodded, curious about what he had in mind. A change of topic was welcomed. 

"I've come to ask you if you'll join me. It's for an upmost important goal and I've been sent to recruit the brightest minds of generations. There will be many scientists from different disciplines there.You're strong in more than just fortitude. I want someone I can trust." Einstein answered, still uneasy. He had no reason to lie to her. 

Curie watched him in silence, leaning over to turn on a near-by lamp.

" I appreciate the offer, but there's something more to it, isn't there?" She prodded. Marie had gotten good at reading people, enough to get her by in the war zone that was her life in the professional and social eye. 

"You can't expect me to abandon my family, not after _Pierre_.." she let the words trail off. 

Einstein sighed as he sat down in a chair by the window. 

" I also want to give you the chance to say no. I don't want to tear you away from your home and your family. Everything you've worked for. It's going to be dangerous and I don't want to force you into this team without knowing all the details or rushing you." He admitted. 

Marie drew back, knitted eyebrows. She pushed her loose locks of hair out of her face. 

" _Dangerous_? Albert, what _exactly_ is this team for?" She pressed. Curie didn't like how this conversation was carrying on. 

" It's for a war which there is only one other like it to compare to. It's still in the early stages but it's already so much worse than the one before. It's a world war. Not now, not for at least a few more decades. 1941." Einstein lamented. Marie felt her blood run cold. Not just the implications of what wasn't said, but what one of her closest friends was asking of her. 

" A world war? You're asking me to go on the front lines and help? To travel through time?" Marie knew what the words describing the war meant and she knew what it was like to live in the after effects of a war on the ' losers' side. 

She couldn't sit comfortably- or at least as comfortable as she could call her current situation- while these played out, could she?

"It affects all of Europe and beyond that as well. People are dying in despicably horrible numbers. I wouldn't ask you if we weren't desperate." Einstein told her. He didn't meet her eyes, distracted by the facts he likely wasn't telling her. 

" What exactly are you asking of me here?" Marie pulled on a nearby sweater before sitting closer to the edge of the bed. Closer to Einstein. 

" We need people with powers to fight." 

Marie frowned, annoyed. 

" Albert, you know I'm not..ready to use my radiation. Especially not like that." Marie reminded him mournfully. She had fallen in love with their work. The elements she had lovingly named. That which had refused to let them continue together. 

" I know, but, for what it's worth, I'll be there by your side. You won't have to be alone anymore. I promise. It's a cause that's bigger than any of us. We're fighting for our homes. For our children's futures. England is the only country that's still free to fight the Nazis but there's no telling how long they will stay standing. " Einstein offered her the rest of what he knew. A promise of things to come. A warning of a threat that called for unity. 

" Poland and France have fallen?" She asked wide eyed and fearful. What about her daughters? Herself? 

" I'm afraid so. Poland was one of the first to be taken over. I'm sorry, Marie. If we win, you'll get to come home. As if you had never left." He confirmed reluctantly. 

" And if we fail or I die, my children suffer either way." It didn't take long for Curie to think it over. To roll the circumstances and the risks. 

" I think I know what I'm going to do." 

Einstein locked eyes with her. 

" You're sure?" He asked, giving her one last chance to back out. 

"If whoever is arranging this can be sure to take care of things if I don't come back, then I think I'm ready to risk it all. If I have you and if it's for Poland and France- then I'm ready." She said with a sense of finality. 

* * *

It took some time for the team to get used to one another. 

She found common ground with Tapputi and learned how to handle Tesla. To an extent she understood him, perhaps out of similar heritage or because they both knew what it was like to not be taken seriously. 

Darwin was the man everyone generally took a liking to and Einstein was their driving force. Their second leader, behind Churchill himself. He was their heart and their brain. Churchill gave orders and Einstein coaxed the fledgling team to work together. 

The less said about Freud, the better. 

Curie was grateful to Einstein in more ways than that. He was that shoulder to lean on. That voice of reason she could spend hours talking to. A support she hadn't had since Pierre.

With him and her work, Curie began to feel like her old self again. A shred of normalcy returned to her life. 

As soon as she had settled into this new life, it was ripped out from under her again. 

Einstein was dead. 

Curie felt her life free fall once more. She was reliving losing Pierre. The only difference was that it wasn't his blood on her hands. His killer got away, having taken more lives with them and leaving without a trace. 

The others mourned him, but they lacked the closeness she had with Einstein. She was alone again, and this time there was no Albert to come to her rescue. Curie barely remembered the funeral, only the cold rain and the murmurs of the attendees. Darwin was there and of course, there was Churchill. 

She had stayed for a while, talking briefly with others who had worked with him or had befriended the great man. 

"I'm sorry for your loss. I really am. Einstein was a one of a kind. Irreplaceable. I can't believe he's... really gone." A tall, lanky man by the name of Oppenheimer remarked in solidarity. 

" Thank you for your kind words. He was a dear friend of mine." Marie heard herself say, not quite in the moment. She was detached from the outside world, lost in a flurry of grief. 

There was rage at the unknown killer for stealing away one of the pillars of her life. There was crippling guilt, the idea that perhaps she could have done something to save him. That she had overlooked a clue that she could have prevented this. Above all...there was numbness. 

* * *

" I know you were very close to Einstein. How have you been dealing with your grief?" Freud asked as he observed her from behind his notepad. 

Curie _hated_ being in this office. From the pictures strewn around the walls to the simple knowledge of this man thought of women. How she knew how _lowly_ he considered her as an individual by being female. He was no different than the men she had forced her way past back in her own time. 

" You can't _help_ me." She told him dryly. They hadn't known each other for long, but she was already tired of him. 

" Come on, Mrs. Curie. I know we haven't gotten along well, but you can't just write me off so _easily_. We're both equally respected in our fields." He tried to reason with her. 

"I don't _need_ you." She snapped. Curie just wanted to be left alone but neither Churchill or Freud would let her. 

"Alright, just know that I'm keeping this on my files for next time. We will be discussing it." Freud said as he simply let her go. 

Curies' life became a timeless cycle of research and personal hygiene. She ate when she felt light headed.She slept when she could no longer keep herself awake, away from ghosts too fresh in her mind. The emotional wounds were too raw, tempered only by endless experiments. After her appointment with Freud, no one bothered her. 

Not even Churchill. 

* * *

How much time had passed since that day, she lost count. 

Churchill called a meeting, making it clear that all were to attend. 

Even Curie.

For the first time in longer than she could remember, she was reunited with her team. They didn't ask, didn't say anything. There were few stolen glances but that was the extent of their interactions. 

Everyone's attention was drawn to the boy. One the scrawny side, with unmistakable white, wild hair that formed an untamable fluff on his head. 

" Alright, super science friends, I want to introduce you to our newest member of the team. His name," Churchill introduced, " is Albert Einstein. Why don't you say hello to the others, Einstein?" 

" He-hello." He greeted with an unsteady voice not yet used to speaking. 

" _This_ isn't Einstein." Tesla said bluntly, ignoring the boy. 

Churchill bristled at Tesla's remark.

" There'll be none of that. You will refer to him as Einstein and that's an order." Churchill barked, daring Tesla to dispute his orders. 

" Uh, hello there, Einstein." Darwin was the first to attempt a proper introduction. 

" My name is Charles Darwin." He smiled, holding out his hand. On the surface, it was friendly enough. He was good at hiding the uncomfortableness of what he was standing in front of.

The others were varying in their first interactions. Tesla refused to shake his hand on account of germs. 

Curie found herself being the last to introduce herself. She could see out of the corner of her eye, the others watching her. 

She looked back at this new Einstein. Her hand hesitated to reach out to his. 

Whatever hope he had seemed to have been dashed by the others. He wilted, not looking her in the eyes. 

He had been there for her when she needed it. Forever indebted to all he had done, she knew what to do. 

"Hello, Einstein. It's good to have you back." She held his hand lovingly. Einstein's eyes snapped back to her, his full attention locked on her. 

" My name is Marie Curie. I'm hoping we'll get along." She gave him one of her rare smiles. 

"H-hi, Marie….Curie." He stammered. Aight blush spread across his face.

The other Einstein had been nothing but good to her. A friend who would defend her, look out and stand by her. 

She knew how to honor his life now. She would be to this him in this life, what he had to her the first time around. 

Someone he could depend on, but also someone who would let him find out how to stand on his own. 


	2. A fitting reward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Z3 has fallen and the world is free again. For now. After the celebration of their achievement wears off, Einstein wonders if this is really a fitting reward

A lot had happened in the past month since the fall of Z3. For the first time in his life, Einstein got to experience peace. What fighting existed was far more petty and lower stakes than what he'd spent his life dealing with. It had taken equally as much work as to put humanity back on their feet as it had to liberate them. Now that they were starting to crawl towards their independence, the former super science friends were left to watch from afar. 

Their job was done. They could rest, if they still knew how. 

They had somehow managed to fall into some sort of peace time routine, a civilian familiarity that Einstein knew only in bursts while awaiting another mission. Then another and another and …

Einstein pulled away from those thoughts, instead gazing up at the ceiling. Usually he could and would sleep for as many hours as he could get his hands on. At first he wrote it off as being a growing teen who needed all the sleep he could get. When they were on the run, it was because he never knew when the next time they could rest in relative peace was. 

Now he was having trouble sleeping as of late. Einstein would usually go on a walk if he was feeling lazy, or even a quick jog to tire himself out just enough to catch a few more hours of sleep. 

Today was no exception. 

He rolled out of bed, quietly putting on his shoes and sneaking out. 

Einstein wasn't a boy anymore, he was well into the prime of his life. No one could tell him what to do. 

Not like Churchill could. 

It was hard to believe that he had really died. It hurt even more when they realized how close they were to the end. They had survived so much for so long as a team- as a _family_ \- only to fall apart when they needed each other most. 

Einstein stopped. 

He was outside now, leaning against a tree. The sky was still dark, a deep violet. Faint clouds drifted along. If he squinted he could see them. 

He couldn't help drawing up old memories of Churchill's cigars and how he'd watch the smoke waft and dance up into the air. 

Neither could he ignore the way Freuds' would do the same. 

The two of them. _Gone_. 

One he could admit that he had needed after he had grown up and another he longed for if only out of completion. 

Einstein sighed deeply, closing his eyes. It didn't take too much effort to conjure them in his mind. He could picture Churchill, more like how he'd been when they were still on the run. 

Aged skin not as young as it used to be. Liver spots dotting that face he'd come to think of as his father figure. 

" I'm proud of you, Albert." The mental copy echoed. Out of all the praises Churchill gave him, this was always his favorite. 

He made the copy wink before going back to just smoking and standing there. 

Freud..he hadn't white been the same after a while. Maybe it was the stress of living persecuted across two wars. Maybe that was just how Freud was destined to turn out if he had lived long enough. 

A younger Freud, one that more resembled his WW2 days popped up mentally. 

This Freud lit a cigar, before looking him over with a raised eyebrow. 

" You were never close with me but you still miss me. _Very_ interesting." He commented. 

" I don't miss you particularly.." Einstein lightly protested, not entirely meaning it. 

" I think you already know the answers to your own question. You don't need me anymore. Unless, you'd like me to try. For old times sake." Freud shrugged. 

Einstein hadn't been particularly close to Tesla either. His exit from both the team and this world had been expedient and unceremonious. There hadn't been time to mourn him, much less fully acknowledge his fate. Even after the dust settled it took time for the survivors to gather their thoughts and give him a small farewell. 

Like Freud, there had been no body. Unlike Freud, they knew he was gone for good. 

" I can't believe I'm unappreciated, even after all I did for you guys." Tesla pouted, folding his arms. 

" It was the heat of battle. Things just moved too fast, Tesla." Einstein told him, trying to reason with the ghost of a dead man. 

" I couldn't get recognition or respect when I was alive and now you don't even-" Tesla was cut off by Freud who jumped at the chance to practice his old field of study. 

" My my, Tesla, you seem to have a lot on your mind. Now that we're free from the strain of war , perhaps you'd like to sit down and have a good, long session with me?" Freud smiled amused. Even in this fabricated argument. 

_Just like old times._

He let their conversation fade into nothing as he opened his eyes again. The sky was lighter now. Violet had faded to deep blue. The sun was not yet up, the world still painted in muted colors. 

It was still quiet. 

He shivered as the coolness of dawn started to get to him. He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. 

He should go back to the house, get see more sleep before the day officially started. 

Yet he stayed. 

The moon hung in the sky, his only constant companion on these walks. How often had he stared up at that same moon and that same sky?

No matter when and where he went it was the same. 

The first time he had seen it was the first day he had come to live with the team that would be his family. It was one of his earliest memories. One he seldom revisited but he remembered it nonetheless. 

* * *

Everything about his first night had been foreign. He didn't know what to expect about most anything. His limited experience in being alive was near useless and his borrowed memories only served as guide posts for what he was meant to be doing. 

Churchill had sent him off to bed, insisting that his curfew was to be a mainstay in his life at least until he was old enough to handle regulating his own bodily needs. 

Einstein resented that but as he got used to living, he understood more. Even if he didn't want to admit it. 

The muffled sounds of the adults- the shuffling of feet, the conversations he could just make out parts of if he really listened- passed by. 

He managed to sleep some, but it didn't come smoothly to him. Maybe it was a loud noise, or maybe the bed he was sleeping on wasn't broken in yet. 

Fed up with trying to sleep, Einstein got up and paced the room, training the very legs his life would depend on later. Right now, it was just walking back and forth, unsure of where to take himself. 

Running came as easy to him as breathing, but would it wake the others up? Were some of them still awake or already so? 

Not willing to get himself lost in the maze that was his new home just yet, he restlessly perched against the window in his room. London was massive, there were few lights twinkling in the buildings that filled the horizon before him. Not all of them were in one piece and very few people could be seen out and about. 

The ticking of the clock was persistent and steady. The moon was the only friend he had on those nights. It didn't judge him, didn't weigh him down with expectations and obligations he was duty bound to. It was an observer, like him into this world. 

* * *

Despite the sky being brighter now, the moon still persisted. He had taken mornings for granted, always assuming that it would always be there. It wasn't until the super science friends had to go into hiding, largely underground, that he learned that lesson. Now that they were free, he truly appreciated it for its beauty. For what it meant.

His family was much the same. 

It was half gone and the half that remained weren't quite their old selves anymore. Neither had the half that had left them. The half that could no longer enjoy the peaceful softness that early mornings brought. 

The sun had not yet risen but already it was light. 

How long would the others stay with him, before leaving to join the members who had already left where no one could reach them anymore? 

The beginnings of a sunrise revealed their soft peach lights, paining the blue canvas with splashes of color. 

How long until would Tapputi stay? 

The others would be reunited at last with the family and friends they had been forced to leave behind as they too died?

As the beauty of the slow sunrise made itself more apparent, a tear rolled down his cheek. A single sniff. 

He would be alone again, like he was a child, new to a world that expected him to fall into line. 

How was _any_ of this a fitting reward for all they had done?


	3. Slumber: Self reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While still sleeping off the effects of Freuds' amplified powers and the effects of his efforts, jungs' dreams lead him somewhere familiar yet alien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Birthday Present fic for LHO on discord

Jung didn't know the battle was long over. Time always moved differently in dreams, somehow too short and too long at the same time. Yet, even then, no time passed at all. The laws of reality held only vague rules in the unconscious mind. It was the souls' inner workings and the hidden, shared memories- according to _himself_ or course- that exerted itself in full force. 

Jung lived in triumph, well loved and respected in his current wave of dreams. Freuds' influences were not as overt as they had been when their amplified forms had first made contact with his defenseless mind. Deep, animalistic instinct was stronger than the more man made source his own power drew upon. 

Jung was more or less blissfully blind to the drifting nature his powers had led him on in this state. He drifted passed the sleeping and waking minds of the world around him. Too great was this pleasure tainted mist that his mind was soaked in to notice that the voices and scenery that leaked into his own weren't his to begin with. 

Dresses and suits. Marriages and divorces. A soft whisper. A sweet kiss, a caress. 

A frown. Disapproval. Solitude. 

Freuds' overpowering influence dulled these unpleasantries, twisting them into something sweet, _tantalizing_. 

Bright colors, sometimes clashing, sometimes merging in harmony. 

Black and white. 

An orchestra. Cacophony. Dead silence. 

They all swirled and mixed together into an indistinguishable slurry. A thousand different lives all floating through his mind. 

It was in this sea of conflictingly harmonious emotions and sensations that he felt one familiar. It felt like home. 

It felt like _him_.

The colors and sounds pulled away, leaving him in a world of just silence. He was still. 

Waiting. 

After a lifetime of stimulation, the sheer lack of anything else stunned him. On unsteady feet, he stood and took tentative steps. They echoed as they stepped on nothing but the black void. 

Why did it feel so _familiar_ yet so different? In the null, he began to notice a throbbing pain in his head that had been covered up by the deluge. Jung rubbed his temples. As he gently massaged them, Jung tried to feel out. 

Was he really back in his own mind? 

A long ignored exhaustion settled in his bones. Aching in places he hadn't thought there'd be any. 

It was only now that he began to question how long he had been in the dream world for. 

* * *

Jung felt a presence. He was not alone here. Ever since he got his powers, he had never truly been alone. For better or for worse, the berts were by his side whether he wanted them to be or not. 

….

Of course he did. They were as much a part of him as he was of them. 

Jung felt out to towards the presence. 

_' Introbert? Extroberta?'_ He mentally probed his subconscious.

Doing so agitated the mental strain he'd had to endure under the aftermath of Freud. Now that he was coming off of it, he could tell the damage it had done. 

He shuddered at the thought of working through it when he woke up. 

_' who are you?'_ Came the reply. 

It didn't sound like either Bert. Nor did it sound like any of the voices he had experienced before. 

It sounded like his own, only... _different_ in a way he couldn't place. 

_' who are you?'_ he silently asked back, standing his ground. 

_' I am me. Who are_ you _?'_ Came a tired reply. 

_' I am also me.'_ Jung responded. 

_' I am tired. Where do you come from?'_ Jung felt the mental landscape shift. Physically, nothing had changed. In the dreamscape, the physical wasn't so solid. 

_' I've returned from the dreamscape. I've come home. I too, am tired.'_ Jung felt something lightly hit him in the back of hiss legs. 

It was a chair. 

He hadn't conjured that. 

Another man stepped forward, a dim light from above. Jung didn't need to think too hard about who this was.

That slicked back hair. That moustache. That face. 

It was _him_...but it also wasn't _him_. This other Jung carried an air of deep exhaustion that ran deeper than his own. 

" Hello, Carl." The tired Jung said as he plopped down in his chair. A meager table appeared between them to fill the gap. 

" It's not much, but I hope you'll understand." He explained dryly. 

"You're _me_." Jung observed. 

" And I'm _you_. But who is the _real_ Jung?" His counterpart proposed. 

" I knew it. I'm back. I don't quite know which part of me you are." Jung mused as he watched the other man.

" Perhaps. I would be inclined to think the same about you. I believe I can say my journey was not as _easy_ as yours."

The other Jung rubbed his eyes. When he removed his hands from his face, a scar appeared over one of his eyes. 

" Your eye." Jung pointed out startled. 

" Oh, the injury is new to you?" The other Jung tilted his head, studying him. 

" How long have we had it?" Jung reached up to touch his own eye. It was smooth and uninjured as far as he could tell. 

"Since I came back." The other Jung answered guardedly. 

" Came back from _where_ exactly? I didn't think the dreamscape could leave scars." Jung inquired nervously.

Maybe he _wasn't_ the real Jung. Could he have _really_ gone through all that and just be a part of the collective?

" You don't get permanent injuries in here from visiting other people's dreams. You know our manifestation in here is affected by one of two things. 

Our own view of ourselves...and psychic injuries." The other Jung told him.

He leaned back, hands folded as he waited to see what his intruder self would do.

" What's happened since I've been here?" Jung asked gently. If this counter part was the same as him, he needed to know what he'd missed. To examine himself and see just how badly Freud had hurt him.

" When you say ' psychic injuries' can you elaborate? Surely, our _independence_ from..Freud… should have resulted in a grave psychic scar as well?" His voice harbored fear as he tried to imagine what the other him meant. 

The man didn't answer. He closed his eyes and left them in that all encompassing silence. 

He opened them again. 

" You're me .. but you're not the same version of _me_. You're not from my timeline." The other Jung deduced. He leaned forward, head tilted down with brows knitted. 

"Who are you associated with?" Other Jung demanded suddenly. 

"Associated? Professionally-" Jung began, scrambling to list off his associations and affiliations tied to his field. 

"Not professionally. I remember who we were tied to in academia. Are you with the super science friends? Or are you….?" Other Jung tensed as he waited for an answer.

"I'm not a super science friend." Jung retorted, slightly annoyed. 

The other Jung said nothing. 

" I came alone. I was only interested in fighting Freud. Do you remember that?" Jung offered, trying to get to the bottom of the situation. 

" I remember, but likely not the way you do. Assuming you're telling the truth, I think we're two different versions of the same man. " Alternate Jung proposed.

" Is such a thing possible?" Jung gasped with wide eyes. 

"Unless you're another part of my subconscious, I think that's what's happening now." AU Jung said. 

" You see, _I_ work for the super science friends. Or at least I worked on their behalf for this last mission that resulted in my injury." He continued.

" You work for them? What about Freud?" Jung asked, alarmed at the news. 

He had no interest in the super science friends, nor had be any interest in joining had they come to him. 

So why this one? 

" Freud is still here. My fight with him led to my mission. The very one Churchill sought me out for in the first place." Au Jung clarified. 

" You _knew_ what would happen and you _still_ joined him and his mishap of a team?" Jung gawked at the idea of being so reckless that he'd risk life and limb- or at least he assumed judging from the wound. 

" No, he didn't tell me. Whether he fully anticipated how far it would go, he did warn me and give me what support he could give me." Au Jungs' exhaustion made more sense now as he seemed to slump forward.

" Do you regret it? What was this mission he sent you on?" Jung probed, trying to get more information in case Churchill tried to get him to work on the same mission. 

"I don't know and I don't think I can tell you. It's too sensitive." Au Jung shot down his questioning. 

"You could say our roles have been swapped." Jung chuckled lightly. 

" That sounds like an astute observation." Au Jung commented, fighting back a yawn.

" I apologise, I'm very worn out from my mission. It took nearly _everything_ out of me." Au Jung gingerly rubbed his eyes. 

"I'll let you rest then. Do you think we'll run across one another again?" Jung wondered, slowly getting up from his seat. 

" You never know. If it happened this time, it could happen again." Au Jung speculated. 

The chairs and table vanished as Au Jung stood up. He held his hand out. 

Jung took it and shook his own hand from another life.

" Before you go, I want to ask you something." Au Jung requested. 

"Anything for us." 

" My family, or _our_ family. How are they? Are they...are they ok?" There was a longing in au Jungs' eyes. 

" They're doing alright. The children are happy and healthy. Emma has recovered from giving birth and the baby is a happy little bundle of joy.

I don't know when you last saw them, but they're as happy and safe as you last saw them." Jung assured him.

Au Jung nodded slowly, easing his grip on Jungs' hand.

" Alright. Ok. Thank you." He thanked. 

Neither wanted to leave, but they both knew they couldn't both stay.

As Jung began to head back out au Jung called out to him.

" A word of advice. Don't do things you'll regret because there will be things you regret and will come back to hurt you." He advised. 

Jung turned to take one last look as the mindscape was fading. 

"I'll take that to heart." He promised as he was booted from the other Jungs mind. 

Jung woke to darkness. Cloth brushed against his head as he began to stretch his aching body from it's long dormant position. Agonizingly pushing his inert limbs from their resting place he stood up and felt around for a light or a door. He was getting out of here.


	4. Pigeon: Flight feathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For all his smarts he was still thought of as a fool. Even if the whole world scoffs at him, he can at least have his pigeons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and not as polished but it's pigeons.

Everyone on the team had a purpose. First and foremost, they were a special force of men and women, armed with the fruits of their respective labors. Secondly, they were hard working, well respected scientists. Masters or founders of their fields. 

Einstein was the exception to this rule, as he was merely a stand in for the real man. Tesla didn't pay him much attention. Less so on a professional front than on a personal one. Of course, his personal relationship with most of the others wasn't very well developed. He wasn't here to make friends, not when those friends would return to time periods far removed from his own. 

Curie was somewhat of an exception, although they didn't always see eye to eye in more ways than one. 

Perhaps it would have done him some good if he did try to expand his social circle. Especially since these people whom he worked and lived with were all crammed in the same building and in such close quarters for the foreseeable future. 

Be alone, be a genius. 

His motto to get him through tough times, to divert his conscious into his life's work. To silence the background longing for a family, for friends, for recognition. It wasn't that he didn't love engineering and science. He loved them dearly. So much so he had decided from his early days that he would denounce all other worldly desires aside from those he could not live without. Tesla was still only human after all. 

A human that desired to be valued and appreciated. 

Tesla found solace when he went on early morning walks. The brisk air and the general solitude it offered made him feel calm. Even with other people around, they tended to mind their own business and leave him alone. It was in the parks that he found himself. Among the flocks of pigeons that knew him, they swarmed in for his affection and attention. 

They didn't see him as a genius. A failed man who still tried. A person out of time and burdened with what might as well be a losing fight. A bizarre foreigner from an almost unknown country with the funny accent and odd habits. 

They saw him as a man. 

Just a man.

Just Nikola.

They cooed as they hopped towards him. They perched calmly on his leg, on the benches. Timidly they are from his hands. 

He was kind to them and in return they trusted and loved him. All he had wanted without the baggage. 

Eventually they would part ways, leaving Tesla with a sense of melancholy as he watched them fly away. Flapping and soaring as a group, unbound by anything but the endless sky and winds.

For a while, Tesla was envious of Darwin's power. While they both knew how to fly, Darwin could truly be a part of their world. 

But alas, he only used those powers for...odd things that repulsed Tesla. 

He returned to his room and buried himself in his work with his head in electricity and his heart in the sky.


	5. Electricity: Dual Current

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ( roleswap au x cannon team)  
> Ever since the barrier between timelines have fallen, the two teams have been doing their best to cope. Some get along better than others. 
> 
> Edison and Tesla have only been at each other's throats. Finally hitting everyone's breaking points, the two decide a score must be settled. Even if it's against a different version of the same man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if it sounds familiar to Your Other Half, it's because it was supposed to be a continuation/ related to that one. However, I realized that there were some differences that don't make sense. This can be chalked up to time runner coming out before ssj 2020 being deemed cannon ( again, congrats on that) and after ssj 2019. If you care about Continuity, then you can consider Dual Current as the more cannon of the two. Or you can have the first third as coming before the entirety of Your Other Half and then the rest of Dual Current.  
> Understandably some of the writing will still be wonky if you read them both as the same continuity.

Seeing your double was unsettling enough. Living in close contact was another. Working and interacting with this other you who was equally as much you as yourself was difficult to come to terms with.

At least for some. For others, it was a breeze. 

The Freuds enjoyed each other's company almost immediately. Much to the chagrin of Jung- whose presence caught everyone off guard on the other team. 

The younger Einstein in particular did not take kindly to Jungs being there. Whatever ill wills or concerns the boy had were quickly swept away by the older Einstein. He looked upon his successor with curiosity and endearment. 

The two disappeared for hours at a time. 

Such a cheery, happy meeting could not be said of the two Darwins. Darwin the man was silent. A slow show of horror dawning on his face as he saw Darwin the child. A pained attempt at politeness was all either could afford. All three psychologists noticed, but it was Jung who stepped forward. Perhaps to get away from his past mentors, he stole the boy away to his office for ' privacy'. 

No one stopped him. 

No one acknowledged what had happened between the two Darwins. Not then and there, anyway. 

Faintly, one could hear a muted conversation asking if young Charles was alright. No one heard the answer.

That display of how meeting your other half could go was nothing compared to how Tesla and Edison, two polar opposites, two missing pieces represented by their most hated man reacted. 

"I'm a genius and _you're_ telling me that _thief_ , Edison is my replacement?" Tesla cried out in rage and despair. 

Edison shot back equally angered. 

" Oh, of course, I don't get the privilege of meeting myself. No, instead, I get the man who ruined my life." 

" I could only dream of doing such a thing. You _deserved_ whatever your Tesla did." Tesla sneered as be pouted much like a child. Granted, he was validated in his outage. 

Edison's fists crackled to life with electricity, drawing concern from both teams. 

" You don't know what I went through to get where I was. What I sacrificed, what I did to scrape by after-" Edison stalled in his rant. 

Churchill took advantage of the pause to break up the fight. 

"Settle your problems or I'll settle it for you. I'm letting you stay on this team instead of sending you back because you proved your worth during the last mission. Don't make me regret it, Edison." Churchill warned. 

" You put Edison on your team?" The other Churchill asked, questioning his counterparts decision. 

" Well, he was the only one with electric powers I could get to agree to come." Edison's Churchill lamented. 

Tesla scoffed. 

" My Churchill chose me because he _knows_ I'm worth it. Not because I was his _last_ choice." Tesla taunted smugly. 

* * *

Tensions simmered between the two until it came to a point. When the tower was silent, Edison stood outside Tesla's door. Tesla was less than pleased when he saw who it was. Edison shoved his foot in the door before pushing his way in and closing it behind him.

"Get out." Tesla snarled, putting a hand on him- despite his own disgust at his former employer.

Edison gripped Tesla's hand and pulled it off, before shoving it back. 

"I'm tired of _you_. I'm tired of seeing _you_. Of hearing about you. The idea of _working_ with you is one of the most appalling things I've had the misfortunes I've had to experience and I've had to experience a lot of them. Especially at _your_ hands." Edisons' voice had never been quiet. Tesla could hear the stirring of his near-by teammates. 

" Can't you learn to be quiet? People are sleeping. Then again, you were _never_ good at learning or doing anything beneficial that wasn't taken from someone else." Tesla snapped, half whispering. 

Edison glared at him. 

" No, I _can't_ , because I can't judge how loud my own voice is. Because I can only hear myself so much. We ought to settle things between us once and for all before our respective Churchill's send us down to the basement. _I_ don't intend to go back. _You_ , on the other hand, could stand to learn how to be humble. Perhaps you should spend some time with the Just Oks." Edison put his demands on the table. He wasn't going to put up with Tesla's presence without a fight. 

And a fight was what he wanted. 

" We have a basement?" Tesla asked, taken aback at the news. 

" We do, yes. And there's a whole team down there and one of us is going to be saying hello sooner or later." Edison clarified. 

" Fine. What do you propose?" Tesla asked, jumping into the heart of the matter. 

* * *

The training room wasn't as used as Churchill had hoped but it was still open to whoever wanted to sharpen their skills. 

" Alright," Edison started as he turned on the lights and closed the door, " let's get to the bottom of it." 

Tesla looked around in awe. It was roomy and proofed for various powers. Training dummies and other equipment were neatly arranged. A single locked metal door was at one end with a panel. 

" What's _that_ door for?" He asked curiously. Edison looked over to what Tesla was talking about. 

" That's where we can send in a captive Nazi if we want a live battle without worrying about keeping our powers non lethal. I can't say I know if anyone has used it. But I do know that it's connected to Curies' lab since she uses the bulk of them for her work." Edison said nonchalantly before laying down the rules.

"Let's get down to brass tacks. You and I are going to have a one on one battle. No killing. That's _all_." Edison watched Tesla expectantly.

"I've been waiting to get revenge for what _you_ did to me. Since you're offering the chance so openly, I'll _gladly_ take it." Tesla fired up his current, with Edison doing much the same. 

Despite both having wanted to fight before, they were waiting with baited breath for the first punch to be thrown. 

" Oh come _on_ , Nikola, don't tell me all your whining about whatever it was that I did to you was just for show." Edison whined hypocritically.

" It is not ' just for show', you ruined me on so many levels." Tesla cried out as he let loose a bolt of alternating current towards the other man.

Edison dodged, before sending back a bolt of his own. 

" _You_? Ruined? You're one of the wealthiest men in America. You're Westinghouses' right hand man. _You_ brought _me_ down. Do you mean to tell me that you aren't as great and powerful as I know you?" Edison lunged at Tesla but was beat back by a shock to the face he couldn't escape in time. 

Stunned by the pain, Edison let out a pained moan as he lay inert on the floor. He looked like the Edison who had taken everything from Tesla. He sounded like him.

Tesla watched him lay helpless on the floor digging up memories of that day when he confronted his own Edison do the same, only to prove that he really was a fool for his tricks. 

" _You_ sullied _my_ name. You used electricity for killing and you slandered Alternating current. You stole my patents. My _ideas_. The very essence of my mind. Now you steal my pain and mock me?" Tesla bellowed.

As he lost himself to the rage of all his mishaps, punching and kicking the man on the ground, not caring for which one it was. All that mattered in his mind was that they were one and the same. The euphoria of getting revenge that was rightly his was interrupted by a jolt of electricity from below. 

Taking the opportunity, Edison pulled Tesla to the ground, pinning him to it. With one eye swollen, and his nose bleeding, Edison perched himself on Tesla's middle, knocking the air out of him. For all of the things that Edison wasn't compared to Tesla's he used his weight to his advantage. 

Edison wrapped his hands around Tesla's neck and screamed in frustration. 

" I just wanted to keep what was mine. The damn thing I worked on for almost a _decade_. Westinghouse had to swoop in and try to take it from me. You could have just let things lie but you just wouldn't _let it go_." Edisons' yells turned to sobs as he relived his downfall. 

His grip loosened as his words grew more indistinguishable. 

"The whole damn system was _my_ work. _My_ men and I poured our everything into it. How much I had to fight and you just-" Tesla couldn't make out anything else , he was preoccupied by suffocation. Edison's grip may have given leeway, but he still couldn't suck in as much air as he needed to. 

His precious brain was being slowly killed by Edison's big, likely dirty hands. Tesla drew up all his strength and poured it into the most potent ball of electricity and sent into Edison's chest.

If that didn't wake people up, the flickering lights would. 

Edison slumped over, still. Somehow, he was more so than when Tesla had zapped him in the face. Pushing the heavier man fully off of him, Tesla could breathe. Coughing and gasping for air, he felt light headed as blood returned. 

Tesla looked over at Edison who gave no indication of regaining consciousness. He looked away. 

Edison could die for all he cared. 

It would get him in trouble with Churchill. 

Did he care if he had gotten rid of Edison in one world? 

It would just cost the other super science friends a member. Maybe they would just clone him again. 

There would still be the other Edison to deal with. The one that needed to be punished. 

Reluctantly, Tesla checked in him. Feeling for a pulse, he was relived to find one. 

Begrudgingly satisfied, he got up and wandered back to his room. He'd deal with the consequences later. 


	6. Chemical elements: the three most important chemicals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curie is after those elusive elements that she and Pierre are determined to prove exist. They find it, but they find something else along the way. 
> 
> Dopamine: happy  
> Serotonin: less stress  
> Oxytocin: bonding

Before Marie Curie was Marie _Curie_ , she had another name. She wore her nationality on her sleeve and in her heart. She would be unapologetic about the country she still loved. The one that she knew it could be, free from the intrusive forces with tendrils buried deep into it's core. 

She knew who she was.

The path she had chosen thus far had been wholly defiant. Banned from the beginning, she pushed forward in her pursuit of knowledge. She would not be just a faceless, voiceless being. Marie who had still been Maria at that point fell in love with France. How much more free it was compared to her home country. A country of no restrictions. The French had no need to hide who they were in their own lands. They still got to exist on the map. 

It was liberating. 

As liberating as it had been when she had been recommended to the man who would be her one and only by her side for as long as they were together. 

Pierre Curie. 

His smile. His encouragement. His belief in her. 

Marie felt happy, safe, content. 

She had found a place she belonged. She hadn't intended to originally, but she became his wife. 

She became Marie Curie. 

The world may have been against them, but together there was nothing they couldn't do. They held onto that inkling of an idea, a scientific opportunity and followed it down. 

Working in tandem, raising a family. Loving each other through the turmoil of scientific pursuit. 

Happiness. 

Stress. 

Bonding. 

They were meant to be. 

Although their work centered around a different kind of chemistry, they dabbled in another. 

Dopamine. 

Serotonin.

Oxytocin. 

The chemicals of love. 


	7. Revenge: red light green light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> role swap/ cannon. Einstein the boy is still not over what Jung did to him so he decides it's time for a little revenge. 
> 
> Takes place after Dual Current

Einstein the boy could almost get used to being around the other team and their roster of duplicates. What he couldn't get over were seeing the faces of the men he had come to know as their enemies. Edison and Jung weren't tied to the greater war, but they were still bitter rivals with Tesla and Freud respectively. 

While he knew Edison wasn't a good man- a thief and a liar and more than happy to throw his weight around to get what he wanted- that was Tesla's issue. From what he had heard there had been a fight between them and Tesla had won. Edison had rarely been seen from that day and even rarer still was he not sulking.

Jung on the other hand was largely unbothered by either team when he was out and about. It helped that aside from Freud, Einstein was the only one on his team to know what exactly he had done and who he was. Either that or the rest of the team didn't care as much. 

This was a wrong that Einstein could not let stand. If Tesla had gotten even with Edison, it was only fair he got to do the same. The man had been the cause of a long bed wetting streak after all. 

Ever since the two teams had joined, Einstein hadn't slept well. Knowing the man who could invade his most intimate parts of his mind while he was at his most vulnerable didn't allow him much opportunity to sleep soundly. He'd taken advantage of day time naps when he could get them, although these often interfered with his day time responsibilities. This lack of proper sleep- he was a growing boy who needed all those hours- had forced him to his breaking point. Jung needed to know not to mess with him.

Technically this version hadn't, but the threat was still there. 

* * *

Einstein snuck out of his room carefully. He could dash off as fast as he wanted and likely not be caught in a physical sense. He had enough experience in this at least to know he wasn't exactly silent or that the rush of wind that would trail him was difficult to cover up. Einstein snuck around, listening to the noises of sleeping scientists, holding his breath. He let himself breathe a sigh of relief when he made it through the portal to the other side. 

His personal lessons with the older Einstein had given him familiarity with where everyone's rooms were. 

' His' room was now Darwin's room. The room that should have belonged to the original Darwin was locked. He wondered if the same had happened with the Original Einsteins room in his tower as well. The original super science friends were all where they should be. 

Jung was another in another hallway and Edisons room was surprisingly, not where Tesla's should be. This, he had found out himself in his way to pay Jung a visit. The light shining from under his door gave away his location. Einstein relaxed, feeling eager. To the best of his knowledge, there was no one else in this part of the tower. Quickly peeking into an adjacent room confirmed his suspension. 

He knocked on Jungs' door and waited. 

There was no sound. Disappointed but not dissuaded, he knocked again rapidly. Straining his ears he heard footsteps approaching the door. 

Einstein hurried away. Watching through a crack , he saw a disheveled Jung open the door to his office and looked around. He blinked sleepily in confusion at the empty hallway. 

When nothing came, he shuffled back inside.

Einstein always considered himself a good kid, even if he wasn't around for long. As the realization of what he'd done slowly dawned on him, he started snickering. He had pulled his first prank. 

Poking his head out to make sure Edisons' light was still on in his room, Einstein approached the door again and gave the same rapid knocking as before. He started back to the spare room as soon as he heard grumbling and footsteps. Jung pulled the door open with more force this time. Einstein eyes had adapted to the darkness enough to be able to make out the details on Jungs' expression. The man glared, staring down both ends of the hallway for a good long while. 

Finding nothing, Jung once again retreated to his room, angrily muttering something in German that Einstein didn't understand. 

Giddy and emboldened, Einstein rushed to Jungs door again. This time, he waited until Jung was almost at the door before hiding. Clasping his hands over his mouth in an attempt to stifle the noise he delighted in the man's continued late night anguish. It served him right for invading his privacy and embarrassing him. 

This time, Jung stayed in his doorway for what felt like forever before he moved. Instead of going back in, he walked towards the room Einstein was hiding in. He felt his heart stop. Before he could do something, Jung turned down the hallway. Einstein pulled away from the door to calm his breathing. 

He had done what he came here for, it was time to leave. Letting out a small yawn, it was time to go to bed. Looking out, he saw Jungs door was closed. 

He really shouldn't. 

It had been a while since he really had fun. 

It could be fun to test how far he could push it, how fast he could race off at the last minute. Unsure, he stepped up to the door, hand resting on its surface. As he let out one final knock, he was caught off guard when the door immediately swung open. Jungs hand grabbed his wrist tightly. 

" There you are." He growled and he pulled him into his room with only a yell from Einstein. 

* * *

Einstein had never been inside of Jungs office before, nor had he been so close to him. After being sharply thrown into a chair, he heard Jung lock the door before returning. 

" Would you like to explain yourself, young Einstein?" He asked coldly. 

They were both still in the dark. Einstein didn't answer as he watched Jung fumble around for his glasses. 

Agitated by the lack of response, Jung finally turned on the light. Squinting, the light and shadows painting him as much scarier than he was tired. 

" Not responding isn't going to get you out of this, Albert." Jung told him as he slumped into his desk chair. 

" I got lost on my way to the bathroom." Einstein lied, folding his arms. His eyes wandered around the office, noticing how different it was from Freuds. It was nester, not nearly as pervy as he was used to. 

" I've been to your side of the portal. I find that highly unlikely. If you don't tell me the truth, I'll have no choice but to report this to Churchill in the morning. I'm sure yours will be thrilled to hear that you've been causing trouble this late at night." Jung chastised, pulling out the old pipe from his desk drawer. 

" Isn't it late at night to be smoking?" Einstein asked, trying to draw attention away from the subject. 

" It's two in the morning. Depending on how long this drags on, I might have to. Don't try to change the subject." Jung said as he ran his fingers along the length of the pipe. 

"I... couldn't sleep and wanted to go for a walk." Einstein partially confessed. 

" I see. That would explain why you're on this side of the tower. It doesn't excuse you causing a nuisance at this hour." Jungs' anger receded slightly. 

"I got bored." Einstein lied, unwilling to tell the truth. That this was for reasons both petty and serious. That this was his attempt at revenge and entertainment. 

"I would have thought you'd be more mature. In the very least to have the decency to annoy Edison. With his ears, you could knock all you want until he finally figured out someone was trying to get his attention." Jung pointed out dryly. 

" Well, it wouldn't be as fun. Besides, I can't sleep because of yo- I mean-" Einstein realized his mistake too late. 

Jung pounced on the slip up. 

"Do you care to expand on that? What exactly I do to warrant being woken up repeatedly?" Jung questioned, unapologetically smug about catching that slip up. 

" Ah, well, look, it's late. You're tired, I'm tired, let's just forget this happened and go to sleep." Einstein laughed nervously. Jung was the last person he wanted to tell the whole story to. The less people who knew about his wetting the bed the better. This version of the super science friends didn't know and he intended to keep it that way. His eyes were far more interested in the scenery than the conversation at hand. 

" Look at me when I talk to you." Jung hissed. He slammed his hand on the table, making the boy jump. 

Reluctantly he obeyed. He was shocked, now that he was seeing Jung up close and in the light. He didn't remember Jung looking like this before. 

" Wha- what happened-?" Einstein trailed off, unable to take his eyes off Jung now. 

Jung brushed the injury with his hand lightly, wilting at the reminder. 

" It's…a long story. I don't want to turn this into a session. I just want to get to the bottom of this." Whatever fire had been under Jung was gone now.

" Isn't a session to get to the bottom of the issue?" Einstein asked, not understanding what the difference was. 

" Perhaps, but...I just want an answer. If you just tell me, I won't tell Churchill or anyone else." Jung yawned. 

Einstein looked down, thinking. 

"What did you mean by ' I can't sleep because of you?' " Jung prompted gently. 

" You promise you won't tell anyone?" Einstein pressed, making himself look Jung in the eyes. 

He nodded slowly. 

" I promise." Jung vowed, wiping the sleep creeping back into his eyes. 

" ...You invaded my dreams and...made me…" Einsteins words stalled there, struggling to say the words out loud. 

Jung simply watched, letting him talk. 

Einstein leaned forward, whispering more of the details as if it would make things better.

Jung made a noise, drawing ire from Einstein. 

" Don't judge me. I...I didn't want to talk about it…" he mumbled in embarrassment. 

" No, no. It's interesting, that's all. There was a similar situation here with Charles. Except he didn't have the same problem you did. There was a recurring nightmare that neither myself nor Freud could make heads or tails of. So the two of us went into his dreams to find out what we weren't seeing." Jung explained. 

" So, what was his deal?" Einstein asked, curious about what life this other clone had lead. 

"...It involved the Original Darwin. The reasons he isn't here but our cloned version is." Jung answered, vaguely. 

" ... huh, ok. So, did they go away after that?" Einstein shouldn't have been poking around in Darwin's personal issues but he had few chances to hear of someone else he could relate to on such a personal level. 

" I can't answer that. I…. wasn't here the morning after...but, I think I can answer what's going on." Jung perked up at the epiphany he had uncovered. 

" This other Jung, I've met him briefly in a dream. Since we're technically the same person, you think I'm guilty of his trespassing." Jung said as he laid out the points. 

" You were rightfully wronged by his actions, but you didn't feel as if it was resolved by my being here." 

Einstein couldn't believe it. 

" Are you telling me I'm not safe from Jungs in other timelines?" Einstein wailed at the thought of infinite Jungs crawling into his dreams like an army of cockroaches. 

" It's unlikely as he was the sole instance of this happening. He wandered into my dream, I didn't wander into his. I haven't run into him again since then so it's possible it's only possible because our time lines have mingled together." Jung clarified. 

" So what am _I_ supposed to do? I can't even sleep well without worrying he's going to come back and all you can say is ' it wasn't _me_.' This didn't help me with anything!" Einstein despaired, running his hand through his fluffy white hair. 

"You can't hold what _he_ did against me. _I_ did nothing to you. What he did was wrong, I'm not denying that it wasn't. It's equally wrong for you to hold what he did to me. You don't trust me very much, so allow me to offer you a peace deal. _I'll_ venture out into the dream world and sit outside the entrance to your sleeping mind. If that other Jung comes by again, _I'll_ deal with him. In return, I want you to drop your grudges against me. How does that sound?" Jung laid it out on the table, awaiting Einstein's response. 

" How do I know I can _trust_ you?" Einstein prodded, unwilling to be so vulnerable in the place he was least able to defend himself. 

"What _alternatives_ do you have? There's only so much I can do, Einstein. You have to give me good faith too. I'm on the same team as you are now, I have nothing to gain and everything to lose if I were to harm you." Jung looked at the clock. A whole hour had gone by. 

"You can still get some hours of sleep if you leave now." Jung noted, pushing the desk clock towards him. 

" Can I think it over?" Einstein asked, feeling drained. He didn't want to be having this conversation. He didn't want to be talking with Jung. 

He certainly didn't want to open himself up to a version of the man who infiltrated his private thoughts. 

Despite all this...or perhaps... because of it..he felt better. A weight had been lifted, some, but not all of the wrongs had been addressed. 

Jung gave a weary smile. 

" Of course. It's your mind." Jung lead him to the door, opening it.

" Try to have a good night, young Einstein." 

"I, uh, I'll try." Einstein was left to wander back to his own room with just his thoughts.


	8. Day 8

Another place holder. This time because the thing im writing needs mor research and I don't want this to be out of order when I get back to it

I am writing day 9 though


	9. Death- Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marie and Pierre Curie were two halves of the same paradoxical cat. Einstein had to choose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time runner compliant. Meant to be a present for the devs of that game. I literally couldn't sleep until I finished this which is why this is so unpolished.
> 
> There was supposed to be a conversation between Pierre and Einstein towards the end and I don't doubt it would have enhanced the story but I couldn't sleep until I finished and I wasn't going to stay up all night working on it

Einstein stood in what used to be the Curies' lab. The walls had grown to be familiar to him. Shelves and bottles were the only part that _didn't_ carry grief and regret. Marie's broken sobs, both mourning and comforting the man who would soon be dead. These had not been his first set of final moments.

Einstein had seen this too many times before and he would see it again as many times as it took to save them both. He could not stop to help Marie in her time of need now, not when he had yet to do right by them both. 

Pierre too, would be in need of his services. 

The universe strained against Einstein as he used both power and acute understanding to side step the natural order of things. The one way casualty of history being made through the mere passage of time. Whether it be small and inconsequential or big and monumental. Slow and unnoticed or sudden and remembered. They were all the same to the universe. History was history simply by _being_.

He rewound time, watching as Pierre went from dead to alive and fascinated, hovering over his wife. A birth of a paradox. A discovery rewarding the two for their hard work and condemning them for it. Two equally devastating powers that both could not exist. Being born in unison would kill one and leave the other without it's other half. Discoveries that could not have been born alone yet necessitated a union.

This time, he would get it right. 

Marie died. 

Again. 

Pierre died. 

_Again_. 

Marie.

_Again_. 

_Pierre_.

Again. 

_Marie_.

Again. 

The smell of radiation and burned flesh were a permanent fixture in his nose. The agonized screams and wails of both the dying and the mourning blended together, imprinting in his mind as a trophy of his failures. Einstein was not a man who forgot easily. 

How long could he keep this up? How many times could he watch the same scene repeat itself ad nauseum? How many times did they have to die before he could get it right? 

Hadn't they suffered enough? 

Hadn't he? 

Yet he was alone in this ever looping moment. Only be remembered all the times they had died. Each death weighed on him heavily, as if he were carrying each corpse. As if he were personally responsible. In a way, he was.

Einstein was the only one uniquely able to do something about this. If he couldn't…

Something broke in him. In a sense, he had already let go. Grief turned to numbness which morphed into realization. 

It was inevitable. Their fates were sealed by factors that no amount of time manipulation could fix. A whiff of an idea, to go back even farther and pull the strings that were their lives from behind the scenes came and went like fog on a warning morning. Einstein stood there in the paused rubble that was the Curies' lab and lives. 

He had to choose.

It wouldn't be Marie _and_ Pierre Curie. 

It would just be Marie _or_ Pierre. 

Or.

That two letter word held both his friends at the edge of life and death. A demand that could not and would not be negotiated or avoided. The difference between living on with a burden and dying without ever getting to taste the fruits of their labor. 

He had the power to understand the relativity of time, but now to play judge, jury and executioner to the two people who deserved it least. A punishment from the universe. It didn't like those who tried to circumvent it's rules.

* * *

When Marie's screams echoed through the walls, Einstein let himself hold her tight. Not just for her sake but for his. He wasn't proud of it, but now that he knew there would never have been an answer to that unsolvable question, his own tears flowed freely. He cried for Pierre, but he also cried for Marie. For each and every one of them. 

He cried for himself. For as long as he lived, the two Curies would die perpetually in his mind.


End file.
